This issue of the Journal of Latin American Theology contains articles from some of the newest members of the FTL who presented papers in local chapters in fulfillment of an essential requirement for active membership in the FTL: the presentation of a written work reflecting original theological thought, rigorous dialogue with other pertinent sources and research instruments, and relevance to Latin American situations. Through this requirement, the FTL provides a strong impetus to practical scholarship and fosters relevant, robust contextual theological reflection. This issue showcases men and women from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador, Uruguay, and Argentina who explore many aspects of church, generosity, identity, art, the prophetic imagination, and liberation.

This volume of the Journal of Latin American Theology and the spring 2020 volume are dedicated to providing an up-to-date analysis of Christianity in current Latin American societies. This issue focuses on Mexico, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and Haiti). An excellent array of Christian leaders representing these regions have risen to the task. First, they situate readers in the contemporary political and social context of their country. Next, they describe contemporary Christianity in their nation, both Protestant and Catholic, as the respective churches respond to their national challenges. Then they explore what followers of Jesus in their countries would want to share with the larger worldwide church and what Christians in their nations need to learn from Christian sisters and brothers from around the globe. Mexico is covered by Rebeca Montemayor and Javier Ulloa; Guatemala by Miguel Reyes; Honduras by Enrique Martinez; El Salvador by Miguel Reyes; Nicaragua by Freddy Mendez; Costa Rica by Dorothy and Fernando Bullon; Puerto Rico by Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo; and Haiti by Dieumeme Noelliste. This volume together with the upcoming spring issue will make an excellent textbook in universities and seminaries for all who want to understand Latin American Christianity today. We pray that these country studies will lead readers to prayers of solidarity and reflection upon how God is walking among us in our various contexts.

David Tombs offers an accessible introduction to the theological challenges raised by Latin American Liberation and a new contribution to how these challenges might be understood as a chronological sequence. Liberation theology emerged in the 1960s in Latin America and thrived until it reached a crisis in the 1990s. This work traces the distinct developments in thought through the decades, thus presenting a contextual theology. The book is divided into five main sections: the historical role of the church from Columbus’s arrival in 1492 until the Cuban revolution of 1959; the reform and renewal decade of the 1960s; the transitional decade of the 1970s; the revision and redirection of liberation theology in the 1980s; and a crisis of relevance in the 1990s. This book offers insights into liberation theology’s profound contributions for any socially engaged theology of the future and is crucial to understanding liberation theology and its legacies. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.